**4.7 Energy policy and biogas technology promotion**

Tanzania's energy demand is characterised by a low per capita consumption of commercial energy (petroleum and electricity) and a high dependence on non-commercial energies, including biomass fuels in the form of firewood, charcoal and bio-waste. Renewable energy technologies currently in use in the country include improved wood-fuel stoves and charcoal production practices, biogas, windmills, and solar thermal and photovoltaics (PV). The applications of these technologies are at various stages of development in terms of demonstration and commercialization.

Tanzania has no renewable energy policy at the moment but only the general energy policy framework for all kinds of energy.

The National Energy Policy (2003) objectives are to ensure availability of reliable and affordable energy supplies and their use in a rational and sustainable manner in order to support national development goals. The National Energy Policy, therefore, aims to establish an efficient energy production, procurement, transportation, distribution and enduse systems in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner (URT, 2003). It also supports research and development of renewable energy and promotes the use of efficient biomass and end-use technologies. The main elements of the policy are:


The New Electricity Act of 2008, provide room for more private sector in energy production and that increases a chance to utilize renewable energy especially on small scale targets. Markets for rural household lighting with solar home systems, biogas, and small hydropower have expanded through rural entrepreneurship, government programmes, and donor assistance, serving a number of households (Martino *et al* 2002).

The Act also provides roles and relations of the different actors, the ministry; regulators and operators of the sector are determined by legislation. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) is responsible for energy development. It supervises the implementation of the energy

respondents from *the poor* and *less poor* were more in demand for credits and also mentioned the facility to be too costly (Table 6), suggesting a different kind of approach to induce them

Tanzania's energy demand is characterised by a low per capita consumption of commercial energy (petroleum and electricity) and a high dependence on non-commercial energies, including biomass fuels in the form of firewood, charcoal and bio-waste. Renewable energy technologies currently in use in the country include improved wood-fuel stoves and charcoal production practices, biogas, windmills, and solar thermal and photovoltaics (PV). The applications of these technologies are at various stages of development in terms of

Tanzania has no renewable energy policy at the moment but only the general energy policy

The National Energy Policy (2003) objectives are to ensure availability of reliable and affordable energy supplies and their use in a rational and sustainable manner in order to support national development goals. The National Energy Policy, therefore, aims to establish an efficient energy production, procurement, transportation, distribution and enduse systems in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner (URT, 2003). It also supports research and development of renewable energy and promotes the use of efficient

The New Electricity Act of 2008, provide room for more private sector in energy production and that increases a chance to utilize renewable energy especially on small scale targets. Markets for rural household lighting with solar home systems, biogas, and small hydropower have expanded through rural entrepreneurship, government programmes, and

The Act also provides roles and relations of the different actors, the ministry; regulators and operators of the sector are determined by legislation. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) is responsible for energy development. It supervises the implementation of the energy

Wealth Category *Slightly Well-off Less Poor The Poor* Total Too costly 81.8 98.7 100.0 95.8 Inadequate expertise 95.5 91.7 95.8 91.7 Inadequate water 45.5 54.2 95.8 60 Lack of credit facilities 86.4 98.6 100.0 95 Not aware 9.1 6.9 20.8 10 Do not need 9.1 1.4 4.2 3.3

Table 6. Factors constraining biogas adoption in Rungwe district (%)

biomass and end-use technologies. The main elements of the policy are:

donor assistance, serving a number of households (Martino *et al* 2002).

• enhancement of energy efficiency and energy reliability

• development of domestic energy sources and economic energy pricing, • encouragement of private sector participation in the energy market,

**4.7 Energy policy and biogas technology promotion** 

demonstration and commercialization.

framework for all kinds of energy.

adopt the technology.

policy, which is the main guidance for change, backed by legislation and regulation. The ministry also facilitates mobilisation of resources into areas where market forces fail to ensure adequate energy services. The policy put guidance for licensing operators, monitoring markets and performance; and applying any other necessary regulatory measures.

Within the Ministry of Energy and Minerals there is a Rural Energy Agency (REA) for rural electrification. The policy acknowledges that around 80% of the population has very low purchasing power and depends mainly on wood-fuel for cooking and kerosene for lighting, which have negative consequences to the environment and the quality of life, especially to the rural poor. Rural electrification is a case of long-term national interest and a prerequisite for a balanced socio-economic growth for all in Tanzania through enabling rural poor accessing sustainable clean energies.

However, energy policy has attracted criticism in different ways. Stakeholders feel that consideration of improving clean energy by rural poor needs to be on the application of appropriate technologies that are affordable, environmentally sound and well adapted to local needs as explained in the Policy. Also, while gender issues have received attention at micro level in terms of technological interventions such as cookstoves, biogas, solar cookers, and wood plantations, they have yet to be addressed in macro level policies. Women's needs for energy vary depending on whether they are in urban or rural areas, their stage of economic development and whether they are economically active. Parikh (1995) makes a plea to include gender issues in macro level energy policies such as energy investment, imports and pricing. Also there is inadequate information and data on how the ongoing and planned power sector reform can be modified to address the existing challenges, particularly with regard to electrification of the poor (Karekezi and Kimani, 2002). A study by Barnes and Floor (1996) highlights constraints towards improving clean energy in rural development and these include the widespread inefficient production and use of traditional energy sources fuelwood and charcoal which pose economic, environmental, and health threats. Also the highly uneven distribution and use of modern energy sources such as electricity, petroleum products and liquefied or compressed natural gas, pose important issues of economics, equity, and quality of life. The policy does not provide adequate strategies on overcoming these. Many developing countries including Tanzania has general energy policies pertaining to the development of electricity, oil and renewable energy subsectors for the benefit of the public and the economy. However, the absence of sharply focused, pro-rural energy policy and/or their policy instruments has been the major challenges towards the observed stagnation of some initiatives like the biogas (Habtetsion and Tsighe, 2002). The Energy Policy formulation in Tanzania takes place in the context of great uncertainty, due to mainly pressures exerted by conflicting interests (Mwandosya and Luhanga 1993).

Within the Energy Policy, biogas has received a low profile or recognition. There is no specific policy statement to explain and strategies for the promotion of biogas technology in rural Tanzania; rather everything is dumped in the category of renewable energy. Omer and Fadalla (2003) recommends that biogas technology must be encouraged, promoted, invested, implemented, and demonstrated, but especially for remote rural areas.

The main challenges facing biogas technology is inappropriate institutional structure and/or gaps in the structure, in addition to lack of corporate culture; poor incentives; and,

Dairy Farming and the Stagnated Biogas

quantities of milk to distant markets.

to facilitate biogas adoption.

**6. Acknowledgement** 

research interviews.

1992).

497-530

21 No 1, 141–16.

001

**7. References** 

Use in Rungwe District, Tanzania: An Investigation of the Constraining Factors 323

markets, animal health and reproductive problems and lack of good-quality animal feeds in sufficient quantities (Swai and Kurimuribo, 2011). Smallholder dairy producers often face problems of high transaction costs when it comes to the question of marketing their small

The recommendations are that the government should accommodate and institutionalize the planning of biogas technology dissemination energy in rural areas. Sensitisation should be enhanced, and support services should be provided towards optimisation of the biogas production process so that potential benefits are realized (Langeni, 2010). In this regard, addressing technical as well as non-technical factors is essential for the sustainability of biogas development and for decision making processes in the energy sector. The government should facilitate access to credit through providing information and also guarantee farmers to get credits. The government should help the farmers access milk markets through providing marketing information and selling of processed products. Modalities of the arrangements should be to link farmers to markets need to take into account socio-economic and agro-climatic diversities (Chakrabarti and Mukhopadhyay, 2009). There should be educational and awareness campaigns on biogas benefits and successes, the provision of financial and non-financial incentives to households could bolster wider biogas energy acceptance in developing countries (Walekhwa, 2009). Lastly, the government in collaboration with stakeholders should provide water near homes as strategy

The author would like to thank the Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) for funding this study, without their support this work could have not been accomplished. The University of Dar es Salaam is appreciated for granting permission to undertake this study. Furthermore, thanks should go to the district authorities for facilitating this study. Last and not least, the author is grateful to the farmers for their patience and participating in this

Afonja S. A (1992): "Rapid assessment methodologies: application to health and nutrition

Barnes D.F & Floor W.M (1996): Rural energy in developing countries: A Challenge for

CEBITEC (2003): Centre for Excellence on Biogas Technology, Biogas Bulletin Issues N0.

Banerjee A. V (2007): The Economic Lives of the Poor. *Journal of Economic Perspective*, Volume

programmes in Africa", in: Scrimshaw, N. Gleason, G. (Eds), *Rapid Assessment Procedures: Qualitative Methodologies for Planning and Evaluation of Health Related Programmes*. (Boston: International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries,

Economic Development. *Annual Review of Energy and the Environment.* Volume. 21,

poor linkages among the various stakeholders concerned in energy for rural development (Habtetsion and Tsighe, 2002). Progressive government intervention is needed to shift reform process towards a more responsible development path of renewable energy (Wamukonya, 2004). Generally speaking, the database for the context of renewable energy in Tanzania is not well documented and the renewable energy technology including biogas is still at an infant stages. So many efforts have been done by individuals of which, most of them have not been documented. The financial capital coupled with poor technology (Mwerangi, 2008) and lack of sustainable institutional framework for renewable energy developments hinders the development of biogas. This trend tallies with Uddin (1999) comment that lack of policy mechanisms, institutional development and financing exist as major barriers for Thailand

Another policy issues is lack of credits. A high proportion of the respondents in this study area indicated high cost and that there were no credit facilities in the area of study. There is also an issue of awareness and culture. A study by Mwakaje (2005) show that a large number of people who have not accessed biogas technology especially from the Muslim community have a perception that biogas is a dirty thing. However, being close to Lomwe Secondary School in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania and observing physically the functioning of biolatrine, many neighbour households including the Muslims were motivated to adopt the technology. The challenge was the amount of waste to feed the biodigestor and of course the cost to incur. Improving credit accessibility may have significant impact on biogas adoption in Rungwe district and Tanzania at large. Factors influencing socio-political and community acceptance are increasingly recognized as being important for understanding the apparent contradictions between general public support for renewable energy innovation and the difficult realization of specific projects (Wüstenhagen et al., 2007).
